kruginmi

great model Mark
 
neatly built and good looking all the way, well done!
 
Nils

This photo encompasses almost al the work I got done since last post.
 
--Cook stove complete and mounted.
--Lower deadeyes rigged and installed.
--Mast support beam completed and installed.
 

Close up of cook stove.

Thanks Steven, useful links with good detail. The watermarks dont bother me much
 
The model is moving along. Having done the garboard strake and the various wales, The planking is straight forward.

Finally it’s painted.  Filler, sand, filler, sand and sand and sand, then paint, mask and more paint . . . finally.  Well here it is.    
 
Oh, yes.  I still need to add that gold stripe.
 
Bob
 

 

 

 

Greetings all
Well more progress on the bowsprit. Things went well tonight for a change, and I have completed the braces. So the next task is the braces on the fore mast yards. After reading through the last few pages of the rigging manual it appears there is very little to do on the bowsprit now, only the travelling guy, the guy pendant and the jibboom guy. I am not to sure how I should proceed with these braces as the lifts and sheets are not belayed. So do I belay them first, and then belay the braces or what ? I shall just play it by ear and see how it goes. I surmise there will be a lot tweaking to do later. Anyway we will see. Once again thanks for viewing and your comments. Here are a few photos of the completed spritsail yard and spritsail topsail yard braces. Here we go. DAVID

Greetings all
Well at last I have completed all the yard sheets, and now directed back to the bowsprit to start the braces. I noticed I had forgotten to attach the foremast preventer stay and the foremast stay which belay at the knighthead with a block and tackle which you can see on the two photos...the first braces to be fitted are the spritsail brace and the spritsail topsail brace. I have only fitted the port side spritsail brace, which you can see is secured at the forestay collar and runs through the brace block on the spritsail yard, and then travels up through two blocks under the fore tops to belay near the belfry. You may be able to follow the run of the thread from the photos. One sad point, the end of the bowsprit is broken again and will stay broken until the finish or a long way further on. I will need to shorten it by about 10mm which will make it simple to repair. Ok here's a few photos and once again thanks for viewing and all your comments. DAVID

Sailor, I tried directing the oldest one and that failed so I am just letting my 9 year old go with whatever he likes- just so long as glue is involved.
 
John and all the likes - thanks for stopping by.
 
I have been working on the wall planking as the next step:
 

 
I have refined my theorem:  Sand until you believe you are 100% - you are actually 25%.  Repeat for the same time period - now you are 50%. Do two more times and you will be done.
 
I have thought I had gone over these walls so many times smoothing them down.  Well, start putting the planks and all the irregularities arise out of the smoothed walls to create a landscape looking more like the moon than a polished piece of glass.
 

 
With the last pic you can see the deck addition clamps put on by the British forward of the quarterdeck.
 
My belief is that I am currently at the 50% mark for sanding.  Still room for improvement but should be there later tonight.  The bow is currently untouched.
 
-mark

An oldie but goodie.  Originally designed for R/C but I intent to build it as a static display (at least for now).  With my other builds on the dock this is currently a mental exercise to recreate those pieces that have gone awol - but maybe I get ahead of myself.
 

 
As with a lot of my current kits, they were 'gifts' from associates that knew I dabbled in these things.  Usually started with the best of intentions, they were cast adrift for one reason or another and finally donated to me instead of thrown away (thank goodness for that).  In this case this beautiful ship was started by someone's grandfather who passed away.  Unfortunately a good chunk of the work he had done had gone missing.  Fortunately, he had just started so this primarily consisted of the internal hull bulkhead components.  This is not a standard size ship, and the bulkheads are not standard as I have previously known them.  I have the baseplate shown below, just missing the outside pieces.
 

 
In previous years I had been in dialogue with another kit owner (though non-builder) who kindly offered to trace their pieces.  This was accomplished but was definitely 'in the rough' and not builder ready.  So my current activity is to define a legitimate definition of these bulkhead pieces that could be used to build the kit.  Below right is the traced components, below left is my current efforts.
 

 
From the plans I have the top dimensions (though I have found contrary to drawn dtails, they include the addition of plank widths), and the bottom dimensions from the base plate.  My first quandry is the size of the pieces traced and provided to me essentially lead me to believe the false deck will need to be shaved, over a 1/4 inch in some places.  I am currently inclined to believe the false deck(s) and modify the tracings so they gracefully go from the base plate to the deck.  My plans do not include body lines.
 

 
Anybody out there have any experience with this kit?  My wife somewhat recoiled in horror at it's size, but it is different.  The wood has not aged well and most of it will be replaced with basswood going forward.

 
There is an accessories kit for all the winches and stuff but it goes for BIG $$'s on ebay when they show up so those items will be scratch built.  I may look at what the differences are between this and a liberty ship (like the Jeremiah O'Brian) and maybe go in that direction.  I don't know, at the start the sky is the limit.
 
Like I said at the start, currently working at the drafting to define the missing pieces.
 
mark

I don't know where the time goes though some travelling has slowed me down a bit. Progress shots are attached and I have now almost finished the main mast, main topmast, boom and gaff. I have also made the yards for the foremast but will not fit them until I have finished the ratlines. The rigging is not tightened until I rig the main mast as I have seen changes in rigging already set when I add other lines.The deck houses etc are completed but will be fitted after the masts and rigging.

An oldie but goodie.  Originally designed for R/C but I intent to build it as a static display (at least for now).  With my other builds on the dock this is currently a mental exercise to recreate those pieces that have gone awol - but maybe I get ahead of myself.
 

 
As with a lot of my current kits, they were 'gifts' from associates that knew I dabbled in these things.  Usually started with the best of intentions, they were cast adrift for one reason or another and finally donated to me instead of thrown away (thank goodness for that).  In this case this beautiful ship was started by someone's grandfather who passed away.  Unfortunately a good chunk of the work he had done had gone missing.  Fortunately, he had just started so this primarily consisted of the internal hull bulkhead components.  This is not a standard size ship, and the bulkheads are not standard as I have previously known them.  I have the baseplate shown below, just missing the outside pieces.
 

 
In previous years I had been in dialogue with another kit owner (though non-builder) who kindly offered to trace their pieces.  This was accomplished but was definitely 'in the rough' and not builder ready.  So my current activity is to define a legitimate definition of these bulkhead pieces that could be used to build the kit.  Below right is the traced components, below left is my current efforts.
 

 
From the plans I have the top dimensions (though I have found contrary to drawn dtails, they include the addition of plank widths), and the bottom dimensions from the base plate.  My first quandry is the size of the pieces traced and provided to me essentially lead me to believe the false deck will need to be shaved, over a 1/4 inch in some places.  I am currently inclined to believe the false deck(s) and modify the tracings so they gracefully go from the base plate to the deck.  My plans do not include body lines.
 

 
Anybody out there have any experience with this kit?  My wife somewhat recoiled in horror at it's size, but it is different.  The wood has not aged well and most of it will be replaced with basswood going forward.

 
There is an accessories kit for all the winches and stuff but it goes for BIG $$'s on ebay when they show up so those items will be scratch built.  I may look at what the differences are between this and a liberty ship (like the Jeremiah O'Brian) and maybe go in that direction.  I don't know, at the start the sky is the limit.
 
Like I said at the start, currently working at the drafting to define the missing pieces.
 
mark

Hi all, the build continues - slowly, as usual!
 
This week I have been working in the dive planes and rudder, both made from 1 mm messing, soldered to the shafts.
I am not a star in soldering , but by cooling planes already mounted I got a strong bond. Only the little "balance planes" on the opposite side of the shaft proved impossible to solder without destroying the other connection, so I mounted those with 2 component epoxy. Seems strong enough.
 
I filed off excess solder - the whole thing looks like it will work though it's probably not the very best looking part of the boat. Still have to polish and paint the planes though. The conus already contains one of the bearings for the shaft, and so it will be fixed by the propshaft, the planes shafts and the two wooden fins. The holes in the hull for the pushrods have been drilled, so next will be building and mounting the propshaft and motor connection, and the linkages to the pushrods controlling the planes.
 

 

The scout makes int a real nice model and can be used as springboard for other freighters.
David B

Hola Mark:
I think you are going to spend many, many, many hours having fun with this ship, but seems a very nice project.  
 
Your comment about your wife remembers mine:  where are you going to put your ships? is the question she ask almost every week.        
 
Saludos, Karl

Sailor, I tried directing the oldest one and that failed so I am just letting my 9 year old go with whatever he likes- just so long as glue is involved.
 
John and all the likes - thanks for stopping by.
 
I have been working on the wall planking as the next step:
 

 
I have refined my theorem:  Sand until you believe you are 100% - you are actually 25%.  Repeat for the same time period - now you are 50%. Do two more times and you will be done.
 
I have thought I had gone over these walls so many times smoothing them down.  Well, start putting the planks and all the irregularities arise out of the smoothed walls to create a landscape looking more like the moon than a polished piece of glass.
 

 
With the last pic you can see the deck addition clamps put on by the British forward of the quarterdeck.
 
My belief is that I am currently at the 50% mark for sanding.  Still room for improvement but should be there later tonight.  The bow is currently untouched.
 
-mark

Sailor, I tried directing the oldest one and that failed so I am just letting my 9 year old go with whatever he likes- just so long as glue is involved.
 
John and all the likes - thanks for stopping by.
 
I have been working on the wall planking as the next step:
 

 
I have refined my theorem:  Sand until you believe you are 100% - you are actually 25%.  Repeat for the same time period - now you are 50%. Do two more times and you will be done.
 
I have thought I had gone over these walls so many times smoothing them down.  Well, start putting the planks and all the irregularities arise out of the smoothed walls to create a landscape looking more like the moon than a polished piece of glass.
 

 
With the last pic you can see the deck addition clamps put on by the British forward of the quarterdeck.
 
My belief is that I am currently at the 50% mark for sanding.  Still room for improvement but should be there later tonight.  The bow is currently untouched.
 
-mark

An oldie but goodie.  Originally designed for R/C but I intent to build it as a static display (at least for now).  With my other builds on the dock this is currently a mental exercise to recreate those pieces that have gone awol - but maybe I get ahead of myself.
 

 
As with a lot of my current kits, they were 'gifts' from associates that knew I dabbled in these things.  Usually started with the best of intentions, they were cast adrift for one reason or another and finally donated to me instead of thrown away (thank goodness for that).  In this case this beautiful ship was started by someone's grandfather who passed away.  Unfortunately a good chunk of the work he had done had gone missing.  Fortunately, he had just started so this primarily consisted of the internal hull bulkhead components.  This is not a standard size ship, and the bulkheads are not standard as I have previously known them.  I have the baseplate shown below, just missing the outside pieces.
 

 
In previous years I had been in dialogue with another kit owner (though non-builder) who kindly offered to trace their pieces.  This was accomplished but was definitely 'in the rough' and not builder ready.  So my current activity is to define a legitimate definition of these bulkhead pieces that could be used to build the kit.  Below right is the traced components, below left is my current efforts.
 

 
From the plans I have the top dimensions (though I have found contrary to drawn dtails, they include the addition of plank widths), and the bottom dimensions from the base plate.  My first quandry is the size of the pieces traced and provided to me essentially lead me to believe the false deck will need to be shaved, over a 1/4 inch in some places.  I am currently inclined to believe the false deck(s) and modify the tracings so they gracefully go from the base plate to the deck.  My plans do not include body lines.
 

 
Anybody out there have any experience with this kit?  My wife somewhat recoiled in horror at it's size, but it is different.  The wood has not aged well and most of it will be replaced with basswood going forward.

 
There is an accessories kit for all the winches and stuff but it goes for BIG $$'s on ebay when they show up so those items will be scratch built.  I may look at what the differences are between this and a liberty ship (like the Jeremiah O'Brian) and maybe go in that direction.  I don't know, at the start the sky is the limit.
 
Like I said at the start, currently working at the drafting to define the missing pieces.
 
mark

On to the lockers.  These aren't on the plans but the rudder head required a cover and I decided to spruce things up a bit.
 
I prototyped a first vision (nothing is glued down):
 

 
I am thinking the rudder head locker should be less wide and stick a little farther into the cabin. 
 
The side lockers should have less depth and maybe a little less height.  I don't think I will extend them to the bulwarks on either side.
 
Once decided on how it will look, there will be hinges, knobs and trim added to clean up the final version.  Pretty much lost to view under the quarterdeck but there will be glimpses if you look hard enough.
 
Suggestions invited.
 
- mark

Version 2.0.  What a little sleep and doodling during some (boring) meetings can do to you.
 

 
This is a cargo ship so simpler is probably better.  Still some embellishments, sanding and finishing to go but this is the version I will go with.
 
Now to start getting those walls planked.
 
Mark

Looks really cool. I'm also trying to get my son (I only have one kid) interested in something crafty and handy like model building. So far he's interested in "The King" from the movie Cars and "Skipper" from the movie Planes. I'll have to steer him toward boats or I might lose him to the other elements. LOL

Version 2.0.  What a little sleep and doodling during some (boring) meetings can do to you.
 

 
This is a cargo ship so simpler is probably better.  Still some embellishments, sanding and finishing to go but this is the version I will go with.
 
Now to start getting those walls planked.
 
Mark

I painted the hinges on the gun ports and installed them along with the lower cannons today. I will have to do something on the cannons finish. I painted them several days ago and they still peeled. So touch up tomorrow. After installation, I temporarily placed the deck cannons on the deck and for the first time, the Constitution had the full set of armament on it! Yeah!
 
So tomorrow, I will do some final touch up in preparation for the clear coat. In the meantime, I have to set up for turning the masts and spars.
 
Bill

I leveled the hull today. I ground down the pedestals until it was level. I completed the installation of the chain boards, then touched up the painting all around. I painted the internal stairs brown. They look better than with just the stain. Since these are a soft light wood, they just did not look finished with just stain. I added the side ladders. I assembled and retouched the cannon getting them ready for the rigging. I am still missing 8 cannon balls, but they are on back order. They will be easy to install once I get them. I still want to spray the hull with a matt clear coat before I put the cannon on. This should even out any differences in gloss and make everything flat.
 
I plan on working on the lower gun ports next. I will have them open. Then I will spray the hull with the clear coat and move on to the rigging. 
 
My plan is to rig the cannon, then put the hammock racks on the rails. Then I will start with the masting.  Overall I am pleased with the progress. I see differences everyday. 
 
Bill
 

Success. I was able to rig my first cannon today! It took many starts and restarts before I came up with a method for stringing the blocks. First I wire the blocks with 32 gauge black wire. This is touched very lightly with CA as it rounds the block. Then I put the blocks in thinned clothes hangers. Then wax the thread. I found that supergluing the thread makes it too large to go through the holes. I then take a small drill and go through the holes to make sure the CA did not migrate into them. I thread the blocks then wire them to the cannon. I use the jig to position the blocks and to do a last check for the threading. Since there is a right and left version of each block I need to check them. Once all is well, I take a final tension on all the blocks and run a thin coat of CA to lock the rigging in place. Tomorrow I will add the rings to the rigging, touch up the paint (and paint the capsquares black, then install it on the ship. Since I have three sets of rigging on each side I will also need to drill a third hole on each side of the cannon ports. This will be half way up the port and will be for the innermost blocks. I will also need to address making the breeching block look like it is laying naturally.
 
The photos below show the cannon in the jig. The two brass ends seen at the end of the cannon and just inside the frame are part of the jig I made to hold the cannon in place while I worked on the blocks. The bulkhead ends of the blocks will be at different heights when attached to the rings on the ship. Also the breeching line has not been waxed in this photo so is still very fuzzy. That will be fixed tomorrow before installation. The final location of the blocks in relation to the bulkhead will be done after I touch up the cannon tomorrow. 
 
I will also need to flake the lines so they lay neatly coiled on the deck beside the cannon. It is not pretty yet, but it is a start that I can work with. I also want to look at a combination of wire rope. Currently I am using wire for both ends seizing. I think I like the way rope would look directly attached to the cannon. So I will try that out tomorrow, that way I can do a nice seizing on the line. If that works I will use rope for the cannon end of the block and wire for the bulkhead. 
 
Bill

Hola amigos!!
 
From my experience in modeling ships without exception makes and models, all kits bring some mistakes in the explanations or in some cases, lack of clarity, even in cases where the instructions and drawings are plentiful. For novice modelers this is the most frustrating because they do not know what to do, for the more experienced is a challenge and part of the hobby. Regarding this specific model, I want to share some of the problems I encountered till now and how to solve them, with the hope that can be useful for other modelers who go for this kit.  I must clarify that I take this kit already started by another and perhaps some of the errors are due to this and not the kit itself.
 
Figures between decks: or the figures are too big or the space too small. Instead of them I used pieces of toothpicks.

 
Pulleys on deck “jacks”??: In the Manual appears 3 figures with two 6mm pulleys in each one but they are only 4, so I used 5 mm pulleys for the larger figure.

 
The figures in the bow rail are bigger than the space where they supposed to be, I put an extra strip to make enough space.

 
The plywood piece designed to accommodate the lateral figures had to be modified.

 
The Lion of the port side had no tail, so it was necessary to make one.

 
The “caged Polish” figures on the stern that come with the kit are really ugly; I prefer to do new ones, not as in the original ship that seem more difficult, but as in the Sergal kit.


 
Stern lantern: the plastic piece that simulates glass did not fit, I need to make a new one and I also added and upper and lower piece to accommodate vertical brass wire.


 
Karl

Looking good, mate!
 
John